Ordinary bottle labels, on which names and/or features of the product are indicated, have long been known.
Bottle labelling has become an important means of identification which allows not only presenting the bottled product to the public in a distinctive manner, but also making the final consumer know important features of the content. This is the case not only of the labelling of prestigious bottles (for example, bottles of wine or sparkling wine of big brands) but also of bottles of more ordinary products.
It is also known how the usually used labels of paper, cardboard and similar materials are not free from problems of different nature. For example, wine bottles are many times stored for long periods of time in cellars in order to keep them at the right temperature. However, an ordinary glued paper label rarely retains its entirety with the passing of time due to the effects of humidity and condensation that appear on the surface of the bottle itself. The consequence is the progressive deterioration of the label by wear and tear and the impossibility of reading it.
Although the impossibility of reading the label can apparently seem a minor technical problem, its importance is quite relevant for those who market the bottles and work in this field. Suffice it to think of the prestigious restaurants richly furnished with excellent wine bottles in their cellars or, similarly, to the producers and suppliers of bottles of wine or other prestigious beverages in general who usually supply said restaurants. In case a client of a restaurant, for example, ordered a valuable bottle and this were “not presentable” from the point of view of the label, the restaurant would most probably be forced to take another one and put that bottle aside, not being able to sell it and suffering some kind of economic loss. In other cases, the client herself could reject the bottle when it is presented to her precisely because the label is illegible, and this could cause a loss of image of the restaurant in question and/or of the producer or supplier.
A problem also exists for the conservation of the bottle in a fridge. Also in this case, humidity drops and, above all, condensation drops can significantly damage the label, as already described.
It should also be highlighted that the ordinary and customarily used labels have a high degree of absorbency. This implies that, in case of accidental spilling of liquids on the label or of a need to wash the bottle, the label could be inevitably compromised, rendering the bottle not presentable and therefore not suitable for use.
Moreover, all the customarily used paper or cardboard labels allow simple writings in ink, which can be erased, deteriorate or disappear precisely due to the action of humidity and the passing of time.
Last but not least, it should be highlighted that all the usually used labels are of the single-use type, not allowing their removal and successive new application. The removal of a standard paper or cardboard label would cause its excessive deterioration and consequently, it would be impossible to use it again.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,805 there is described a particular label composed of two ceramic layers overlapped one over the other and reproducing bar codes that are legible either to optical readers or to the naked eye. Although such label structure could apparently result suitable for the overcoming of some of the technical inconveniences indicated above, it still presents additional different disadvantages. The characters obtained thereon are indeed realized through an incision, and therefore removal of material, directly off the superior covering layer with the aim of realizing a contrast between the covering layer and the one below at sight. Still, it is evident how such a technique of incision causes a loss of homogeneity of the covering of the writing, rendering the same not very appealing. Moreover, such an incisive or abrasive technique can be the cause of possible breakages of the covering layer itself, rendering the incision of complex and very deep characters impossible. In that sense, with such a technique only very simple and not very deep linear traits can be reproduced and, as a consequence, not conspicuous to the naked eye.